THE STAKE OF THE BUSINESS MAN IN CONSERVATION

...Baker said, "the business men of (his country are heart and soul in favor of conservation...

...These tribes were uncivilized...

...Owing to the infirmities of human nature a few may faint by the wayside, but the great body and mass can always be depended upon to faithfully and loyally support the movement...

...Conservation is the intimate and individual message to our day and generation...

...The nation in its control of our resources should reflect the same character and intelligence which the individual shows in the management of his own private affairs...

...And finally they believe in the conservation of public integrity which is the basal foundation of our national life on which all else depends...

...Since that time how tremendous has been the grewth in the combinations of capita] and industry...

...but the creative genius, the organizing ability, the spirit which animates the partnership, is the contribution of the business man —by his brains, energy, foice of character, and toil he has created here in the United States a commercial system of enterprise and a degree of business prosperity unparalleled in history...

...Industrial efficiency may justify the union of many smaller corporations into one big one, but if it leads to industrial despotism this efficiency is obtained at the sacrifice of industrial freedom...

...So far as communism of capital is concerned, did not Cleveland's graphic statement adumbrate the conditions as they exist today...

...Conservation and Good Citizenship HOWEVEK restricted at the outset, Conservation has grown into a larger and more comprehensive movement, and its principles include the conservation of ideals that make for good citizenship...

...The business man is one who obtains capita...

...Surely it is equally difficult to believe that any degree of efficiency could justify industrial despotism...

...The New Patriotism CONSERVATION has become the watch-word of the hour...

...also in a fire patrol, at whatever cost, which will prevent destruction of our forests and of human life...

...This moral awakening may show itself politically in an effort toward municipal reform, in legislative and municipal voters' leagues, in a determined resistance to monopoly, or for a larger control and a larger share in the profits of public franchise corporations...

...Business Men Favor Conservation THE great body of business men favor the well known policies of conservation...

...5-9, 1910 By ALFRED L. BAKER HERE in this Second Conservation Congress, where are assembled specialists who have g i v e n profound study to the different phases of the conservation of our resources, where are met together scientists in agriculture, forestry, mineralogy and waterways, it is not intended that the remarks of a business man should stumble into the field of the expert...

...Those business men who have become convinced of the wisdom of regulation should be willing to follow the example of the intelligent patient who goes through with a necessary operation that in the end he may obtain permanent health and strength...

...The phagocytes of health are overcoming the macrophags of decay...

...It marks the advent of a new patriotism wherein love of humanity becomes an integral part of love of country and where the conservation of our "rocks and rills" our "woods and templed hills" is not more sacred a trust than the conservation of those ideals and principles through which we hope to attain our ultimate national purpose;—a government of enlightened people, enjoying equal opportunities, sharing equal burdens and rejoicing in the freedom of an Industrial and Political Democracy...

...The Duty of the Business Man EVEN though the advocacy for the control of industrial combinations and the enactment of measures for their regulation temporarily affect business interests, they should not for this reason excite the opposition of the mercantile world...

...They no longer respect the citizen who in any way indicates a reluctarce to take part in the crusade against bribery and graft, and they condemn the one who, by silence, hopes to conceal his public attitude when public sentiment seeks to fasten responsibility where responsibility belongs...

...It is, however, appropriate that he should voice his approving earnestness and vigorous enthusiasm in behalf of the conservation movement and voice them to those national benefactors who are holding their shoulders to the wheel of progress...

...Already many of them, freed from a false sense of class loyalty, or a fear of injury to business, are unwilling to assist by their public support or private esteem that man, however successful or powerful he may be, who by himself or by his agents practices methods which are unfair and opposed to the common good...

...To my mind great encouragement lies in the fact that there is rapidly developing a segregation in the ranks of business men...

...The charge of irrelevancy might well have been brought to bear upon the discussions which ensued relating to a standing army and the powers of the Federal Government, but in all national movements the importance rests not with their origin but with the extent of their usefulness...

...In the form of an intelligent energy it has applied itself to all the concerns of life from the conservation of the soil and the forest to the conservation of birds, of child life- -"3 of health...

...Representing the business man, and with knowledge of his views, Mr...

...His address was one of the most notable and significant given at the Conservation Congress...

...The material prosperity of the United States is due to our natural resources and the genius of the business man united with the capital of the few and the toil of the millions...

...This is not a sudden revival, a temporary wave of reform, but a gradual evolution of the moral sense, a permanent advance in the idea of social justice...

...The gravest evils which have developed out of our commercial prosperity are the uncontrolled power of great wealth, the growth of monopolies and their sinister influence upon our p litical institutions...

...As early as 1888 so conservative a man as Grover Cleveland expressed himself as follows: "Communism of combined wealth and capital, the outgrowth of overweaning cupidity and selfishness which assiduously undermines the justice and integrity of free institutions is not less dangerous than the communism of oppressed poverty and toil which, exasperated by injustice and discontent, attacks with wild disorder the citadel of misrule...

...I am not one of those who believe that the Conservation movement should be confined solely to the technical treatment of the forest and soil and the prevention of material waste...

...The early pioneers who first settled on the Atlantic Coast and then continued their journey across the Continent, were all business men, but they were not capitalists...

...The second article in the first Conseiva-tion Congress provides that "'the object.- of this Congress shall be broad, to act as a clearing house for all allied social forces of our time, to seek to overcome waste in natural, human, or moral forces...

...They recognize that those resources which are of a public character should be held in trust by the nation for the benefit of the people and that those of a private nature should be so disposed of that they will be enjoyed by the greatest number for the longest time...

...Editor's Note...

...During the last five years there is apparent among business men a larger recognition of their obligations to the community, and there is noticeable among the directors of many of our corporations a stricter sense of trusteeship...

...They believe in the continued distribution of information on a large scale that will educate the people and advance their knowledge of conservation, for it is widespread education more than any other one thing which is needed to advance this great national movement...

...They are not in an economic sense capitalists...

...Two years ago the Conference of the Governors adopted a declaration of principles which the President said should hang on the wall of every school-house for the education of every citizen who is to become a voter in the next generation...

...In the lifetime of many now living, the land in this great State of Minnesota was divided between two Indian tidbes—the Sioux and the Chippewa...

...from one source and labor from another source and unites them in an anticipated prosperous undertaking...

...From the Eastern States they sought in Europe capital to build up the industries of their location, and, by the use of this capital and labor, rendered the East prosperous...

...The descendants of these pioneer business men are the representative business men of today...

...This sort of man must come out into the open and declare himself —he must be either with us or against us...

...But in whatever form it seeks its expression, it is the manifestation of an actively constructive principle which will soon become sc effective that the merchant and the man of affairs will overlook the np^r and personal view which appears on the stock ticker and take the larger view, the view that ultimately provides for the greatest good of the greatest number...

...An anti-toxin to corruption has entered the veins of the business world...

...It is in relation to this larger view that I wish to emphasize the importance of the American business man and his influence upon our national progress...

...and when these sturdy pioneers opened up the wealth of resources in the West, they, in turn, drew upon the East for capital, and by paying for its use and uniting labor with it, developed this great country...

...These conditions are precipitating an economic and political crisis, in which the issues are not to be between the two great political parties but between ranks which are being formed to give battle on these new issues regardless of party lines...

...Intelligence had not arrived at the stage which produces diversified industry, commerce and the merchant...

...As a delegate to this Congress, representing the business man and with knowledge of his views, I wish to state with all the emphasis of which I am capable that the business men in this country are heart and soul in favor of conservation...

...No one nowadays, on the ground of efficiency, believes in a political despotism...

...They believe in the government control of water power with the cooperation of the States and in the application of a scientific forestry, which will eliminate waste...

...We are told that the Constitution of the United States was the unexpected outcome of a conference convened for the sole purpose of investigating our waterways...

...It enters into our daily life, awakens into an a#tive moral force a renaissance of the old-fashioned virtues ->rudence, thrift and foresight, and gives to them a larger and a national meaning...

...Whilst the capitalist may be a business man, the vast majority of business men are nst capitalists...

...the widespread use of the word has given to it a meaning undreamed of in he beginning...

...They believe in better methods of farming and in the improvement of country life so that the bright boy on the farm shall no longer respond to the call of the great city, but find immediately about him equal opportunities for fame and fortune...

...The most conspicuous quality in the character of the successful business man is foresight—and he, more than any other member of the community, must realize the necessity of foresight in the management of our national affairs...

...The influence of these forces marks the difference between the land of the Sioux and the State of Minnesota today...

...But, of more importance than the size of the corporations and the combinations of capital, is the activity in our political arena of the agents and members of these corporations...

...And he tells why...

...This awakened sense of social justice is the new and deeper significance of the conservation movement...

...Responsibility for Evils IF WE give the credit of this achievement to the business man, he should also bear the responsibility of the evils which have been engendered...

...By so doing they are promoting the proper development of those resources which are not only the foundation of our national pros- ___ perity but also the foundation of their own ~ individual success...

...A NOTABLE ADDRESS Alfred L. Baker is a Chicago broker...

...What he says is of deep interest to all of us, because it reflects admirably the new patriotism now stirring the country...

...they are not there to advocate measures for the welfare of the community btt to obtain for themselves special privileges, to gain some advantage in disregard of the public welfare and merely for private gain...

...He himself would never permit the waste or plunder of his own personal resources, and whilst enjoying their daily possession, would always take thought for the morrow...